Bright
Stars
Stories of Australian researchers, who happen to be women
Bright Stars is The GrantEd Group's initiative, showcasing the stories of a selection of Australia’s current early, mid and late-career researchers from all fields of research.
The purpose of Bright Stars is to raise the profile of outstanding women researchers from Australia, across all disciplines, in order to encourage other women to keep striving for senior appointments and to inspire young Australian women and girls to pursue a career in research.
Meet our Stars
Prof.
Kim Watty
Professor of Accounting and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Business and Law at Deakin University. She is internationally recognised for her research and publications on accounting education.
Dr Claire Spivakovsky
Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Monash University. She has worked on projects advocating for the rights and needs of marginalised populations.
Prof.
Jo Barraket
Leading researcher in social enterprise and social innovation in Australia. Her work spans questions of public policy, organisational hybridity and social change.
Prof. Nicki
Packer
Professor of Glycoproteomics and Director of the MQ Biomolecular Discovery & Design Research Centre at Macquarie University
ARC Future Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Her research centres on gender and sexuality, globalisation and development, with a regional focus on the Pacific.
Dr Kalissa Alexeyeff
Completed her PhD on research with white settler communities in Botswana. She was also awarded the McArthur Research Fellowship in Anthropology.
Dr Catie
Gressier
Dr Sarah
Brough
Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow in astrophysics at UNSW. She is an observational astronomer and member of two large galaxy surveys (GAMA and SAMI).
Gillian is a professor of Linguistics at the University of Melbourne and Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language.
Prof. Gillian Wigglesworth
Dr Jordan Beth Vincent
Jordan is a dance historian and researcher in live performance and new technology. She is a Research Fellow at the Deakin Motion.Lab, a commercial-grade motion capture facility .
Professor of Media at Macquarie University. Catherine has published extensively on gender, sexuality and media, and been awarded seven ARC grants over the course of her career.
Prof. Catharine Lumby
Catherine is a lecturer in accounting at the University of South Australia with expertise in sustainability accounting. Her PhD research focused on water management for the wine industry.
Dr Katherine Christ
Dr Maria Giannacopoulos
Maria is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. She studied law at the University of Wollongong before completing a PhD in Cultural Theory at Macquarie.
Susan Hillier is Professor of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation and Dean: Research in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia.
Prof. Susan
Hillier
Prof. Philomena Murray
Philomena is a Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She holds the only Personal Jean Monnet Chair in Australia, awarded by the European Union.
Bibi is an Associate Professor in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. She has also gained recognition for her work on miscarriages of justice and law reform.
A/Prof. Bibi Sangha
Helene is an emeritus professor at the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research at James Cook University. She has pioneered the field of conservation biology.
Prof. Helene Marsh
Dr Fanny de Busserolles
Fanny is a sensory biologist working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland.
Lin is Professor in the College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville. She is an ecologist with research expertise across terrestrial vertebrate species.
Prof. Lin Schwarzkopf
Prof. Gene
Moyle
Gene is Professor, Head of the School of Creative Practice, and incoming Assistant Dean (International & Advancement) in the Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology.
Rebecca is a plant pathologist in the Environmental Futures Research Institute at Griffith University. Her research focuses on food security and productivity.
Dr Rebecca
Ford
Helen is an ARC Future Fellow and Professor in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. She research motivation and teachers’ education.
Prof. Helen
Watt
A/Prof. Karen Vella
Karen is an urban and environmental planner with two decades of research and experience in community engagement, governance evaluation, strategic planning, and environment management.
Prof. Cassandra Star
Cassandra is an Associate Professor of Public Policy in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. She leads the climate and sustainability policy research group and is the Research theme leader on Democratic Futures for Flinders Government.
Professor Bronwyn Fox is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at Swinburne University of Technology. Bronwyn is an Intenationally recognised expert on carbon fibre and composite materials.